Vietnam-End

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NIXON AND VIETNAM

Nixon's Vietnam policy - Vietnamization - the policy for winding down the war
  • troops were withdrawn, training and equipment was given to South Vietnamese, by 1972, only 24,200 troops remained
  • The Viet Cong continued to be supplied through the The Ho Chi Minh Trail
  • However, bombing raids increased, hurting the supply lines of North Vietnam - the bombing expanded to other countries -Laos and Cambodia
  • U.S. ground forces invaded Cambodia in spring 1970 – this led to more opposition
  • May 4, 1970 -Kent State University Shootings



Peace talks -1972 - between Henry Kissinger and Le Duc Tho

In July, word leaked that Henry Kissinger had been meeting privately in Paris with the North Vietnamese Foreign Secretary
  • in October, only days before the election, Kissinger announced that "Peace is at Hand"
  • several weeks later, after the election, talks broke down again
  • January 27, 1973 - agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam
  • U.S. troops leave Vietnam, POW's released, cease-fire between the North and South
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THE FALL OF SAIGON



North Vietnam military attacks, Saigon falls Vietnam is reunited under Communism

The Legacy of Vietnam

In Southeast Asia:
  • 1.5 million Vietnamese deaths
  • countless Vietnamese civilians wounded, homeless
  • Agrarian society in shambles
  • Southeast Asia left highly unstable
  • Cambodia fell to communism after terror

In America: America Copes
  • 58,000 Americans killed
  • 365,000 wounded
  • 150 billion in direct costs
  • U.S. attempts to come to grips with a "loss" - blow to self-esteem
  • Changes in US Policy

Several major U.S. changes as a result of the conflict
  • government abolished the draft, which had stirred up so much of the antiwar sentiment
  • War Powers Act- curb the power of the President for making war - US forces are sent into a hostile area without a declaration of war - the troops may only stay there 90 days unless Congress approves of the action and/or declares war
  • altered American Foreign - risks are considered, because no one wants another Vietnam
  • overall cynicism in Americans about their government and their political leaders -


The Disillusionment of those who served
  • Veterans extended a cold hand
  • some veterans suffered from stress
  • many citizens embittered toward government
  • entire generation of Americans was affected

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 WHAT IS THE LEGACY OF VIETNAM? WHAT DO YOU THINK?


  • US didn't win
  • Prisoners of War
  • Events on the home-front and in Vietnam
  • Vietnam Memorial
  • Time magazine remembers Vietnam 10, 15, 25... years later
  • Welcome home some POW, but not all
  • Vietnam became Communist